Page 17

Darcy could not deny his sister anything, especially since the heartbreaking ordeal she had suffered over the summer at Ramsgate.

Convincing himself that it was best to detach Georgiana from the influence of the ladies of Matlock House, Darcy agreed that she might accompany him and Richard to Netherfield, on the condition that she behave well and remember her own limitations in society, for she was not yet out.

He was obliged to remind her of these strictures in the privacy of the Fitzwilliam carriage as they journeyed to Hertfordshire, for he knew he had been too gentle in hinting at the delicate subject he knew not how to elucidate.

Fortunately, Georgiana soon provided him and Richard an opportunity to speak to her about her fanciful fascination with marriage.

“Am I soon to call Miss Elizabeth Bennet sister, or cousin?” Georgiana looked between her two guardians with bright, eager eyes as the bustle of London gave way to open countryside. “I like her very much!”

Richard grinned slyly at Darcy before addressing Georgiana. “I am pleased to hear you would welcome her into the family. I should sooner see you model your behavior after hers, than that of my sisters.”

Georgiana looked at Richard with a hint of panic and turned to Darcy. “Miss Elizabeth and Miss Bingley are very different from my cousins, but I should be glad to call them both sister.”

Richard gave a gasp of playful indignation. “Would you have your brother marry them both? That is hardly fair to me, Georgie.”

Darcy set aside The Romance of the Forest and cleared his throat, knowing he could not leave this difficult conversation all to his cousin.

Would that his uncle had married a sensible woman!

But it was not Lady Matlock’s responsibility to guide his sister, as much as she and her stepdaughters had led Georgiana astray.

“Georgie, I hope you will leave your thoughts of love and marriage behind. Your cousins are all of an age to think of such things, but you are not even out in society, and should not allow such fantasies to consume you. Regina and Renata have let it make them ridiculous, and I know you to be more sensible than that.”

She bit her lip, a look of guilt seeping into her gaze. “I was not so sensible at Ramsgate,” she said softly. “But I hope I have learned to be a better judge of character since then.”

“At sixteen, even your own character is not yet fixed,” Richard told her.

“You have grown up a great deal since the summer, and we are both prodigiously proud of you. Miss Elizabeth Bennet may prove a fine friend for you by way of example, for her behavior is just the style of wit and grace I think you capable of attaining as you continue to mature. Is it not so, Darcy?”

Darcy could not like the smile on his cousin’s face at this observation, yet his words were undeniably true. What a pity Elizabeth’s own younger sisters chose not to emulate her example.

“Yes, I find that both the eldest Miss Bennets are perfectly genteel in their manners. And Georgie, you ought to think of them - they are kinder to one another than Regina and Renata. To be a friend to one, you must show kindness to the other.”

Georgiana frowned. “Miss Bennet is so very reserved!”

Richard smiled indulgently. “And so are you, my dear. Are you not also worthy of the best treatment?”

“Yes, but it is different,” she huffed. She hesitated a moment, and then added, “I believe that Miss Bennet is not as earnest as her sister, in certain aspects.”

Darcy frowned. “How so?”

Georgiana wrung her hands and turned to gaze out the window as she spoke, as if knowing her words would displease them.

“If Mr. Bingley showed me such marked attentions, I would not receive them so blandly. I know she has little fortune, for my aunt told me so. Perhaps… perhaps she does not really like him? He is such a perfect gentleman, just the sort of man I ought to - well, he is everything I thought Mr. Wickham might be. But what if he is just as deceived in Miss Bennet as I was….”

Tears began to pour down her cheeks, and it tore at Darcy’s heart to see it. “Dearest, Mr. Bingley has moved more in the world than you have, and he has more experience in discerning that style of artifice and deceit.”

This was not entirely true, for Darcy had long feared that his friend may fall prey to a fortune hunter. However, he knew that to admit as much would only give his sister some cause to hope.

Richard was not so cautious, and snorted with laughter. “You and Bingley are rather the same in that aspect, I daresay, for he is just as keen to think with his heart and not his brain, if he has one.”

Darcy leveled a quelling glare at his cousin before turning back to his sister.

He searched for the right words, feeling he was doing a rather bad job of having this important discussion with Georgiana.

He could not bring himself to bluntly state that Bingley would never marry her, for she would surely blame herself and the poor choices she had made in planning to elope that summer.

Delicately, he said, “Dearest, you know Miss Bingley well enough. Do you believe that she would extend such warm friendship to Miss Bennet if she believed the lady was encouraging Bingley’s affections without returning them?”

Georgiana made an indecorous sound of contempt. “She does not even encourage his affections! She is so quiet! I may be timid in company, but at her age I hope I should be capable of showing a little pleasure at the notice of a handsome, amiable man.”

Richard’s grimace turned severe. “Georgie, that was rude and unfeeling. Apologize at once.”

Her bottom lip quivered and her face contorted with a blend of rage and shame. “I am sorry, but it is the truth.”

“And yet you would be friends with her sister?”

Georgiana stiffened her posture as if she would make some petulant retort, but she subdued herself and said, “I would be friends with all her sisters, for I hear they are livelier, like Miss Elizabeth. You have both been friends with Mr. Bingley and I know you dislike his sisters. Perhaps I misunderstood what is acceptable.”

“I told you just yesterday that I thought Miss Bingley’s manners were greatly improved,” Richard bristled.

“Yes, but you credited Miss Elizabeth for that - even Miss Bingley has obliquely admitted as much. How can she be so close with Miss Bennet, and not have had the same effect? There must be aught amiss.”

“And it is not your concern if there is,” Darcy said, jolted by his own sudden severity.

Georgiana recoiled, and he let out a heavy sigh.

They were getting nowhere, and he knew not how to amend his attempt to make her see sense.

He had no wish to spend the duration of their journey disparaging their acquaintance and squabbling amongst themselves.

Without thinking, Darcy gave a groan of exasperation and said, “Miss Elizabeth’s three youngest sisters are all as different from one another as the two eldest. The youngest two have become as obsessed with suitors and matrimony as Regina and Renata, and behave just as forwardly with the officers in the regiment quartered in the area.

Perhaps when you make their acquaintance, you will see their behavior and moderate your own for fear of appearing equally preposterous.

I think it a great pity the pair of them have not been locked in their nursery and I should hate to see you fall in with them as you have with your cousins. Enough of this.”

Richard gaped at Darcy with a look of astonishment, and Darcy instantly regretted his outburst. And yet he hoped that one meeting with the Bennets might show Richard that such vulgarity was not the behavior of a future countess’s relations, however Elizabeth’s perfections may beguile him.

Georgiana burst into tears. “You must think me wretchedly silly!”

Richard and Darcy exchanged a look of dismay before the latter handed Georgiana a handkerchief. “We do not. Nobody is angry with you. We only wish you to enjoy yourself, and it pains us to see you cherish certain hopes that may be disappointed.”

Richard nodded his agreement. “Especially when there is so much else to look forward to. I know you enjoyed that first day of spending time with Miss Bennet and Miss Elizabeth very much. Feminine companionship and camaraderie shall serve you better for now than any notions of romance. Surely you must understand that.”

Georgiana wiped at her tears and nodded slowly at them.

“I do understand, really I do. I fell in with Regina and Renata and their schemes of romance - it all sounded so pleasant. And then, when I heard you all speaking of the fun you were having together in Hertfordshire, I dearly wished to be a part of it.”

Darcy’s heart ached at the earnest look in her eyes.

He knew he ought to have allowed her more freedom, more friendship - if he had, she would not have been moved by Wickham’s pretty promises.

“We are both delighted that you are to be with us at Netherfield, and so are the Bingleys and Miss Elizabeth - and Miss Bennet may yet prove a worthy friend. I only ask that you seek to improve yourself in equal measure to enjoying yourself in society, for it is what we all must do.”

“Yes, indeed,” Richard agreed. “Even at the venerable age of seven-and-twenty, your brother is still improving his own manners. I understand he actually intends to dance at the upcoming ball, and so you have proof that such progress is possible.”

Georgiana gave a hesitant laugh. “May I attend the ball? I just had a new gown made - our gowns are to be sent on from the modiste in plenty of time for the occasion. I shall be so sad if my friends have a chance to wear theirs, and I cannot do the same.”

Again Richard and Darcy exchanged a skeptical glance.

Darcy’s inclination was to decline at once, and yet he considered the notion; here was some inducement for his sister to behave herself.

“I shall give you an answer on the day of the ball. Until then, I wish you to behave as a young woman who is out in society ought to. You must learn from the fine example of Miss Elizabeth and Miss Bingley, and take care that you do not adapt the habits of the young ladies who fawn over the officers and make themselves ridiculous. You must continue to improve yourself and behave in a rational manner.”

“Oh, I promise! Indeed, I shall! I promise I will demonstrate the very best manners to everyone, and show that I am quite grown up. I will learn everything I need to know, and act accordingly, you shall see.”

There was such resolution in Georgiana’s poise and conviction that Darcy considered the matter now closed, and breathed a sigh of relief.

He spent the remainder of the journey to Netherfield attempting to read his novel, yet it was impossible to do so without his mind turning to Elizabeth Bennet.

Every passage he read only led to wondering what she might think of it, and how eager he was to finish the book and discuss it with her.

Was she doing the same with the volume of poetry?

From such a turn of thought, he soon gave way to pondering their every interaction together in London.

He had taken such pleasure in her company, removed from the rest of her family - though the Gardiners were excellent people.

Darcy had sought to make amends to her for his insult, to encourage a friendship between Elizabeth and Georgiana, and even to show his approbation of the changes she had sparked in Miss Bingley.

But he knew it had progressed further than just these matters.

He liked Elizabeth Bennet more than he ever had any other lady.

She was lovelier than he had thought that first night at the assembly - she appeared more beautiful every time he saw her.

She was intelligent and witty, but compassionate and warm.

He had never known in any woman such a perfect and artless blend of heart and mind, such a playful, effervescent spirit, such brilliance as could light up a room.

And he had made little secret of his admiration, for certainly Miss Bingley perceived it; this was why Miss Bingley sought to model her behavior after Elizabeth.

But he feared his attentions had become too marked.

He began to think that she must have felt all of his ardent staring, must see the envy she aroused in him as she bantered at his cousin’s incessant flirtation.

And she must see that he felt a true attachment, something far beyond the flirtatious appreciation that Richard bestowed upon every woman, even Miss Bingley.

Far beyond….

Darcy realized his feelings had passed beyond what he could allow; he had given rise to certain expectations, which his own inclination perversely wished to gratify.

Even at such a moment, half his mind could think only of what it would be like to dance with her - and if they should be so lucky as to dance a waltz at the ball… .

He was in far too deep, enough that he nearly wished to give in more fully, and indulge the same romantic fancy he had attempted to scold from his sister’s mind.

If he did not check himself now, he would be utterly lost to his infatuation; now was the moment to disentangle himself from what would surely end in disaster.

Faced with such a crossroads, Darcy knew not how to act.